China blames design for Mattel recalls
Tuesday, 28 August 2007
BEIJING, Aug 27 (AFP): A design fault was mostly to blame for US toy giant Mattel's recall of millions of products, not the Chinese manufacturers, China's chief safety watchdog said today.
Eighty-five per cent of the roughly 20 million toys that Mattel recalled were due to design faults, Li Changjiang, director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, told reporters.
Li said only 15 per cent were deemed unsafe due to Chinese manufacturers using dangerous lead in the paint.
"So I would like to pose this question: the Chinese manufacturers have their share of the responsibility, but what kind of responsibilities do the American importer and the product designer have?" he said.
Mattel said when it announced the recalls this month that there were concerns about small magnets in some of the toys and lead in the paint on the others.
The head of a Chinese factory that made many of the toys committed suicide after the government suspended its export license.
The Mattel scandal made global headlines and came to symbolise concerns about the safety of Chinese exports.
Chinese-made toothpaste, car tyres, seafood and blankets have been just some of the goods to have come under scrutiny in recent months.
But Li insisted the bad publicity was having little impact on China's exporters.
Total Chinese exports in the first half of this year rose 27.6 per cent to 546.7 billion dollars, he said.
During that time Chinese exports to the United States grew 17.8 per cent, while goods bound for the European Union went up by 30.2 per cent, and products sent to Japan rose by 11.3 per cent.
"These figures show fully that Chinese products are popular all over the world," Li said.
"And in 2006, China exported 22 billion toys worldwide. This proves that the majority of Chinese toys meet importing countries' safety standards and are popular with children across the world."
Eighty-five per cent of the roughly 20 million toys that Mattel recalled were due to design faults, Li Changjiang, director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, told reporters.
Li said only 15 per cent were deemed unsafe due to Chinese manufacturers using dangerous lead in the paint.
"So I would like to pose this question: the Chinese manufacturers have their share of the responsibility, but what kind of responsibilities do the American importer and the product designer have?" he said.
Mattel said when it announced the recalls this month that there were concerns about small magnets in some of the toys and lead in the paint on the others.
The head of a Chinese factory that made many of the toys committed suicide after the government suspended its export license.
The Mattel scandal made global headlines and came to symbolise concerns about the safety of Chinese exports.
Chinese-made toothpaste, car tyres, seafood and blankets have been just some of the goods to have come under scrutiny in recent months.
But Li insisted the bad publicity was having little impact on China's exporters.
Total Chinese exports in the first half of this year rose 27.6 per cent to 546.7 billion dollars, he said.
During that time Chinese exports to the United States grew 17.8 per cent, while goods bound for the European Union went up by 30.2 per cent, and products sent to Japan rose by 11.3 per cent.
"These figures show fully that Chinese products are popular all over the world," Li said.
"And in 2006, China exported 22 billion toys worldwide. This proves that the majority of Chinese toys meet importing countries' safety standards and are popular with children across the world."